Malcolm Kelly, who came out of college with some injury concerns and came into Redskins training camp out of shape, appears to be working his way out of a slow start. Jason La Canfora reports on the Insider blog:

“Good!” Zorn said. “I’ve got great news today. All this rest, and just the specific work he’s been doing in the training room, all the rehab, has really been helping him, bringing him along.

“We’re excited about it. As we work, we’ll get him involved. There’s no way, I don’t think anybody can play both offense, defense and even special teams unless they participate.”

Kelly, who had arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 4, sat out the preseason because of hamstring and knee problems, so “he needs the work,” Zorn said. “Other guys can get away with just partial practice time, the veterans, but a young player like Malcolm has to be there day in and day out. If he’s 100 percent, or even if he’s close to 100 percent, he’ll get practice reps.”

This is good news for any Redskins fans who noticed that the ‘Skins sent James Thrash down the sidelines as the go-to man at the end of the Giants game. (Really, not even Santana Moss?) Now, I have nothing against James Thrash—in fact, he’s one of my favorite Redskins. But just because I like Rocky McIntosh doesn’t mean I want him on the receiving end of a Hail Mary. If we are in serious need of a downfield play, it’d be nice to have a downfield threat to go with it.

I don’t know whether the fault lies with Jason Campbell’s field-vision or with our receievers’ route-running, but somehow our passing game isn’t showing many signs of life. I was optimistic in April that our youth infusion (Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, Fred Davis) would open up our passing playbook beyond WR screens to Moss and QB roll-out passes to Cooley in the flat. I still think there are some exciting possibilities there.

Yet, so far, Devin Thomas is the only player to see action. Kelly’s been out with the knee; Fred Davis was inactive for the Giants game. Our needs are as apparent as ever, so here’s hoping that our young players continue to work their way out of an early bad reputation of being out of shape, sleeping in, and injuries. We need them to.